The Bishop is the first and highest degree of the clergy in the Orthodox Church (episkopos in Greek, which means overseer). He is the successor to the Apostles in the service and government of the Church. A bishop is responsible for and the head of all the parishes located in his diocese. All authority of the lower orders of clergy is derived from the bishop. No divine services may be served in any Orthodox temple without the authorization of a bishop.

Contents

Episcopal Ministry

Rankings of Bishops

In the degree of their ordination, all bishops are equal. Nevertheless, there are distinctions of administrative rank among bishops.

Archbishops and Metropolitans

The title of archbishop or metropolitan may be granted to a senior bishop, usually one who is in charge of a large ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese. He may or may not have suffragan bishops assisting him. In the Slavic and Antiochian traditions, a metropolitan outranks an archbishop. The reverse is true in the Greek tradition. The Antiochian tradition also uses the style of metropolitan archbishop.

The change in the Greek tradition came about because at one point in history, the diocesan bishops of ancient sees (which in the Greek world are pretty much all of them) all came to be styled as metropolitans. Thus, while in the Slavic and Antiochian traditions, an archbishop is a senior bishop with an honorific title, a metropolitan is a bishop in charge of a major see and thus holding a territorial title. In the Greek tradition, all diocesan bishops (with a few exceptions) are metropolitans by default, and thus an archbishop is one who holds his title by reason of territory.

Patriarchs

The title patriarch is reserved for the primate of certain of the autocephalous Orthodox churches. The first hierarch of the other autocephalous churches are styled metropolitan or archbishop (or some combination).

Etiquette

Correspondence

In general, when referring to a hierarch, His is often used (e.g. His All Holiness, BARTHOLOMEW, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch visited Tarpon Springs, Florida in January of 2006). When speaking to a hierarch Your is often used (Your Eminence it is so glad to see you!).